Self-standing metallic mesh with Cu nanoparticles for flexible transparent non-enzymatic glucose sensor

Abstract

Non-enzymatic glucose sensor has the characteristics of simple operation and low production cost compared with the strict operating condition of enzyme-based glucose sensor, and various nanostructured Cu have been investigated extensively for non-enzymatic glucose sensor due to their high electrocatalytic performance, low-cost and abundance. In addition, most of the current glucose sensors have poor adhesion due to their rigid structures, or increased discomfort in the wearable devices due to poor breathability. In this paper, a flexible, transparent, breathable, and attachable nonenzymatic glucose sensors was fabricated via in situ growth of Cu nanoparticle on transparent nickel-mesh electrodes. The prepared Cu-Ni non-enzymatic glucose sensors have the advantages of ultrathin (~10 μm), high transparency (~ 80% transmittance), and high breathability (duty cycle ~ 90%). In addition, the non-enzymatic glucose sensors we prepared exhibited an extraordinary limit of detection as low as 2 μM and free from chloride poisoning. Furthermore, the interference from urea, fructose, lactose, sucrose, uric acid at the level of their physiological concentration were insignificant, indicating excellent selectivity. Therefore, the prepared Cu-Ni non-enzymatic glucose sensors may become a promising nonenzymatic glucose sensor and the work also provides a strategy for the design of wearable glucose sensors.